Tips for Bacon

How to Cook Bacon

How to Store Bacon

How to Freeze Bacon

Tip

How to Cook Bacon

Bacon is most commonly cooked on the stovetop or in the oven. If you’re opting for the former, start with a cold pan with the bacon strips touching, but not overlapping. Set the burner on low and allow the bacon to slowly release its fat. As it begins to cook, use tongs to flip the strips and fry them on their opposite sides. Continue to flip and turn until the bacon is browned evenly. Let the cooked bacon drain by carefully placing them on paper towels or a newspaper.

To cook bacon in the oven, simply line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil and arrange the bacon strips on its surface. If your baking sheet does not have grooved edges, be sure to fold the aluminum corners upwards to catch excess grease. Bake at 400°F for ten to 20 minutes (depending on your texture preference), remove, and place bacon strips on paper towels or a newspaper. The bacon will crisp as it cools.

Tip

How to Store Bacon

Pre-packaged bacon has an impressive shelf life, but not once it’s opened. While it’s best to freeze uncooked bacon, the slices can be tightly wrapped in aluminum foil and stored in a ziploc bag for up to a week. The same storage technique should also be applied to fresh bacon purchased directly from the butcher.

Tip

How to Freeze Bacon

Bacon actually holds up quite well in the freezer, though its peak flavor quality will only last one to two months. To freeze, you may keep the bacon in its original packaging, but wrap around it with another layer of aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or freezer paper. Just be sure to keep your freezer at a consistent zero degrees for optimal freezing results.

Bacon is most commonly cooked on the stovetop or in the oven. If you’re opting for the former, start with a cold pan with the bacon strips touching, but not overlapping. Set the burner on low and allow the bacon to slowly release its fat. As it begins to cook, use tongs to flip the strips and fry them on their opposite sides. Continue to flip and turn until the bacon is browned evenly. Let the cooked bacon drain by carefully placing them on paper towels or a newspaper.

To cook bacon in the oven, simply line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil and arrange the bacon strips on its surface. If your baking sheet does not have grooved edges, be sure to fold the aluminum corners upwards to catch excess grease. Bake at 400°F for ten to 20 minutes (depending on your texture preference), remove, and place bacon strips on paper towels or a newspaper. The bacon will crisp as it cools.

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Next: How to Store Bacon

Tip

How to Store Bacon

Pre-packaged bacon has an impressive shelf life, but not once it’s opened. While it’s best to freeze uncooked bacon, the slices can be tightly wrapped in aluminum foil and stored in a ziploc bag for up to a week. The same storage technique should also be applied to fresh bacon purchased directly from the butcher.

Read More

2 of 3

Next: How to Freeze Bacon

Tip

How to Freeze Bacon

Bacon actually holds up quite well in the freezer, though its peak flavor quality will only last one to two months. To freeze, you may keep the bacon in its original packaging, but wrap around it with another layer of aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or freezer paper. Just be sure to keep your freezer at a consistent zero degrees for optimal freezing results.

Read More

3 of 3

Next: How to Cook Bacon

A great broccoli salad is a chunkier, prettier version of a cabbage slaw, with some of the same elements that make so many of the latter so delicious: a little sweetness, a touch of tanginess, and the smoky, ummi-rich presence of bacon. Here, you use both the Broccli florets and stalks, peeled and cut into sturdy matchsticks. Dried carnaberries, scallions, sunflower seeds, Parmesan cheese, and bacon add tons of personality, and the dressing—a mix of lemon and orange juices, Dijon mustard, challots, garlic, and olive oil—binds the assertive flavors. Note that you might not need all the dressing (start with half, then add more to taste). Any leftovers taste great coating a salad of bitter greens.

Instructions

To make the dressing:

1

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

To make the salad:

1

Peel the broccoli stems and cut the stalks into 2-inch chunks. Slice each chunk, then cut lengthwise into thick matchsticks. Separate the broccoli heads into bite-size florets. Combine stalks and florets in a medium salad bowl.

2

Add the scallions, cranberries, bacon, and sunflower seeds to the bowl. Add half the dressing, toss to combine, and taste. Add more dressing and additional salt to taste. Finish by tossing in the shaved Parmesan. Serve scattered with additional Parmesan shavings.

Want to grow a superfood at home? Broccoli sprouts are a huge healthy win. Baby broccoli contains 50 times more sulforaphane than broccoli. Sulforaphane does a ton of good stuff, like lowering cholesterol, combatting inflammation, and fighting cancer